Sad news. Yankee Hall Of Fame shortstop Phil Rizzuto died, yesterday. He was 89. Rizzuto was incredibly popular in the New York area for decades. He was American League MVP in 1950. I could say a lot of nice things about the guy, like he taught the game of baseball to us kids as we listened to his Yankee broadcasts. He'd give advice on how to play the game. He's tell us not to copy a particular batter's stance. He was one of the good ones. In his entire career, do you know how many times he was kicked out of a ball game? Never! Not once! Rizzuto was a rare combination of "class" without a lot of polish. People who knew him say that he always made you feel welcome. This is a lesson for all of us. He broadcast Yankee games on radio and on TV for 40 years. Listening to him was like sitting next to a friend at a game. He'd talk baseball, but he would also talk about other things. Many other things, like the difficulty of telling boys from girls at the ballpark, his love of old movies, golf and the one time that he shot a hole-in-one! He was never too serious about himself - claiming to prefer radio to TV because on radio people can't see and you can make things up.
He was semi retired from broadcasting when Mickey Mantle died. Phil wanted to go to the funeral. His broadcast bosses said no. Phil stayed and later quit. One of a kind, certainly.
We'll miss him.
Rizzuto Tribute
Rizzuto "on" Seinfeld
